Yugoslav Ex-Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Croatian Village Attack

Dusan Loncar entered a not guilty plea at Belgrade Higher Court on Tuesday, insisting that he did not issue an order to attack the Croatian village of Lovas in October 1991, causing civilian casualties.

"After 32 years [since the attack], I saw that order for the first time when my lawyer got the documents [from the court] after the preparatory hearing," Loncar told the court.

"I do not feel responsible for the attack, nor did I order it," he said.

He claimed that in October 1991, he was not actually the commander of the Yugoslav People's Army's Second Guards Brigade, which was allegedly involved in the crime, but its acting commander, and that he was only named commander in November that year.

According to the indictment, on October 9, 1991, Loncar "ordered an attack on the civilian population that resulted in the death of people".

He is alleged to have issued an order directing his main forces to blockade the village and use artillery to attack the buildings, while auxiliary forces "clear the village of ZNG [Croatian National Guard] and MUP [Interior Ministry] members, as well as the hostile population".

Loncar said he did not issue or even see the order, but he did not deny that the attack happened, claiming that "Lovas was a military garrison".

The indictment names seven people as direct victims of the order, although the death toll in further violence in the days that followed was much higher.

Serbian forces, including Yugoslav People's Army troops and paramilitaries, captured Lovas on October 10, 1991.

On October 17, they rounded up around 70 men from Lovas, aged 18 to 65, detained them and tortured some of them.

The next day, two members of Serbian forces were ordered to use the civilians...